Sly Stone Homeless

Sad news out of today’s New York Post: Sly Stone, the mastermind behind the legendary psychedelic soul-funk outfit Sly & the Family Stone, has been reduced to living in a van in Los Angeles, eating meals given to him by a retired couple.

As the Post reports, the musician born Sylvester Stewart has been plagued by drug abuse and bad financial decisions. Back in the ’80s, he sold Michael Jackson his publishing rights for $1 million, and last year, he filed a $50 million lawsuit against manager Jerry Goldstein, who he claims cheated him out of two decades of royalty payments. Earlier this year, he was arrested for possession of freebase cocaine.

Since his heyday in the late ’60s and early ’70s — when he scored hits with such songs as ‘Everyday People’ and ‘Family Affair’ — Stone has been one of music’s most notorious recluses. After a performance in 1987, he disappeared from the public eye, resurfacing 19 years later for a brief, head-scratching cameo at a 2006 Grammy tribute. He toured Europe the following year, but according to the Post, he’s now a “disheveled, paranoid” shell of his former self.

On the bright side, Stone has been recording new music, and while he’s hesitant to trust managers or record labels, there’s still a chance his new songs will see the light of day.

“My music is a format that will encourage you to have a song you won’t forget,” he told the Post. “That’s why I got so much money, that there are so many people around, and that’s why I am in court. Millions of dollars!”

“But now please tell everybody, please, to give me a job, play my music,” he added. “I’m tired of all this s–t, man.”